SAN FRANCISCO – Dodgers manager Don Mattingly has been asked about it hypothetically countless times over the past three months. But he’s only had to deal with it in reality twice.

That’s how often the Dodgers have actually had Yasiel Puig, Matt Kemp, Carl Crawford and Andre Ethier available for the same game – July 5 and July 21 – and both times Kemp was injured by the end of the game.

“It keeps getting worked out for me,” Mattingly said with a sad smile before Wednesday’s game. “Hopefully, I have that problem. I’d like to have that problem.”

It’s possible he might not have it for the playoffs either.

The Dodgers sent Ethier back to Los Angeles for further examination of his injured left ankle Wednesday. Accompanied by Dodgers director of medical services Stan Conte, Ethier met with Dr. Neal El Attrache then flew back to San Francisco and rejoined the team during their game against the Giants.

Ethier underwent an MRI and a CT scan on his ankle, which showed the damaged soft tissue on the outside of his leg has improved over the past 11 days but is still not healed, resulting in the pain Ethier continues to feel when he pivots on the ankle while running.

Wednesday’s quick trip south was prompted by the poor results when Ethier ran the bases during an early workout Tuesday afternoon. While Ethier has been able to hit in the batting cages, do straight-line running and even shag fly balls for a while Tuesday, he is still experiencing discomfort in the outside of his ankle when he runs the bases and has to change direction.

Wednesday’s exam resulted in a nebulous announcement that Ethier would continue the workouts and won’t play until he can run the bases without pain. Given that 11 days off have only gotten him this far, Mattingly admitted that there is a level of concern about Ethier’s availability for the first round of the playoffs.

“We’ll cross that bridge when we get there,” he said. “We’ll see when we get there, about the roster part of it. The main thing now is just to find out if he’s going to be able to go or not. We may get enough information that that’s not even a question – or one way or the other.”

PLAYOFF PAIRINGS

With 14 wins in 19 games after Wednesday, the St. Louis Cardinals moved two games ahead of the Pittsburgh Pirates in the NL Central with three games to play – and a half-game up on the Atlanta Braves for the best record in the National League. The Braves were shut out by the Milwaukee Brewers for their 12th loss in the past 20 games.

As it stands now, the Dodgers would open the playoffs next week against the Braves with the Braves holding home-field advantage. Of the three most likely playoff opponents the Dodgers have been tracking down the stretch, the Braves are the only one to win the season series. They beat the Dodgers 5 of 7, including a three-game sweep in Atlanta in May.

But Mattingly said he has not been fretting over who the Dodgers will face in the first round.

“We’ve played all these guys,” he said. “I think the Braves have done a little better against us. We held our own against St. Louis. Cincinnati, it was pretty close. Pittsburgh, it was pretty close.

“I look at it more about us – we need to go out and play well. If we play up to our capability and our guys do what they’re supposed to do then we think we’re capable of beating anybody. So that’s not that much of a concern.”

The Cardinals have been the hottest team among the NL’s six playoff teams. But Mattingly expects all of that to be wiped away when the playoffs start.

“For me, it really comes down to how we play,” he said. “I really believe the best team is going to win your division or get into the playoffs over the course of 162. When you get into the playoffs, it’s going to be who’s playing good right then.

“A short series, to me, it’s kind of a crapshoot because everyone’s confident. Every team just won. Every team just celebrated. Every team is going to feel like they’ve got a chance. It’s going to be a matter of who goes out and plays better.”

CAPUANO WORK

Left-hander Chris Capuano went through some fielding drills, the final test of his injured groin muscle. The workout went well and Capuano is likely to pitch out of the bullpen at least once during the season-ending series against the Colorado Rockies.

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